How to Clean a Grill Using Aluminum Foil and Vinegar

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Here’s a simple way to clean the cooking surface on a barbecue grill using aluminum foil and white vinegar. The acid in the vinegar cuts through grease and cooked on food, while the foil acts as an abrasive to remove the food residue.

1. Pour white vinegar in a clean spray bottle.
2. Spray the cooking surface on the grill with the vinegar.
3. Allow the vinegar to remain on the surface for a few minutes.
4. Rub the cooking surface with crumpled up aluminum foil.
5. Dispose of the aluminum foil in a garbage can.

Watch this video to find out more.

Further Information

• How to Clean a Gas Grill (video)
• How to Choose a Grill: Gas vs. Wood (video)
• How to Plan and Design an Outdoor Kitchen (video)

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2 Comments on “How to Clean a Grill Using Aluminum Foil and Vinegar”

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1. Karen Hefner Says:
   March 3rd, 2012 at 2:33 pm

   I truly appreciate the tips. You guys are terrific.

2. 

   joe t. Says:
   March 3rd, 2012 at 3:43 pm

   Thanks, Karen, we appreciate the kind words and are happy to hear that you like our Simple Solution tips. There are over 260 Simple Solutions available for on-line viewing, with more to come. Thanks again and good luck!–Joe T.

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Joe Truini: No outdoor living space is complete without a barbecue grill. The challenge though is, how do you keep them clean? Doesn’t take too long before they look like this. Now, you may have heard of this trick, where you take a big wad of aluminum foil, crumple it up, and use it to scrub the grill clean.

And that works pretty well, but to enhance that trick, here you go with some vinegar. Just get some white vinegar, put it in a spray bottle, and saturate the cooking grate. The vinegar is actually a pretty powerful acid, and you’d be surprised how it can cut through caked on food. Now, it’s best to let that sit for a few minutes, but I’ll show you how, after just spraying it on, scrub it with some foil. Look at that, comes right out.

Now it’s okay if the grill is warm, but you don’t want it to be hot. Now, you don’t have to do this after very single cookout. But, if you do this four to six times in the course of the summer, by the end of the cooking season, your grill will be as good as new.